Parabellum
New Member
Recently, the FBO out of Fort Collins I fly with took delivery of its brand new, 2003 C-172, and about a week ago I had the opportunity to fly it for the first time. I would have posted this sooner, but I've been busy, so here I am.
I must say overall I was very impressed with the new bird. The airframe design is really not any different from the older 80s Skyhawks we're all used to flying. I had to go up with my instructor for the first flight because there are differences between older 172s and the new ones in preflight and starting procedures.
During your preflight inspection, you pretty much do all the same things you did on the checklists for the old 'hawks, except this time you have to make sure your annunciator pannel of warning lights is working, and you have to sample your fuel for contaminents from 13 sampling ducts as opposed to only 2 (5 on each wing side and 3 underneath on the belly).
Starting the engine can be the biggest challenge if you do it incorrectly, or have little experience starting fuel injected engines. Instead of using a primer knob, you prime the engine by turning on an auxillary fuel pump and setting the mixture to full rich for approximately three seconds, then pull it all the way back out to lean. Then you crank the engine with an ignition key as usual, but as the engine starts you gradually move the mixture back to full rich. Once you get the engine running, the mixture adjustment technique for high altitude airports is pretty much the same as it was for a carburated engine.
Its also important to be aware that if the engine has recently been run and is still warm, the priming procedure described above may not be necessary. Its easy to flood the engine if the priming procedure is executed too much within a short period of time.
I think Cessna's move to fuel injected engines was a good one. The thing that impressed me most about this new airplane was how smooth the engine ran compared to older engines with carburators. When we took off, the climb rate on takeoff was noticeably higher, and my first comment to my instructor was, "Are you sure this thing only has 160 horses in it?" The engine overall seemed to be running much more efficiently, and I'm sure that the fuel injection likely had something to do with it.
The newer Cessnas have a higher rental price tag, as you'd expect. But be warned, you will be spoiled when you climb into one of their cockpits for the first time, and your money to you may seem more and more like its only paper.
I must say overall I was very impressed with the new bird. The airframe design is really not any different from the older 80s Skyhawks we're all used to flying. I had to go up with my instructor for the first flight because there are differences between older 172s and the new ones in preflight and starting procedures.
During your preflight inspection, you pretty much do all the same things you did on the checklists for the old 'hawks, except this time you have to make sure your annunciator pannel of warning lights is working, and you have to sample your fuel for contaminents from 13 sampling ducts as opposed to only 2 (5 on each wing side and 3 underneath on the belly).
Starting the engine can be the biggest challenge if you do it incorrectly, or have little experience starting fuel injected engines. Instead of using a primer knob, you prime the engine by turning on an auxillary fuel pump and setting the mixture to full rich for approximately three seconds, then pull it all the way back out to lean. Then you crank the engine with an ignition key as usual, but as the engine starts you gradually move the mixture back to full rich. Once you get the engine running, the mixture adjustment technique for high altitude airports is pretty much the same as it was for a carburated engine.
Its also important to be aware that if the engine has recently been run and is still warm, the priming procedure described above may not be necessary. Its easy to flood the engine if the priming procedure is executed too much within a short period of time.
I think Cessna's move to fuel injected engines was a good one. The thing that impressed me most about this new airplane was how smooth the engine ran compared to older engines with carburators. When we took off, the climb rate on takeoff was noticeably higher, and my first comment to my instructor was, "Are you sure this thing only has 160 horses in it?" The engine overall seemed to be running much more efficiently, and I'm sure that the fuel injection likely had something to do with it.
The newer Cessnas have a higher rental price tag, as you'd expect. But be warned, you will be spoiled when you climb into one of their cockpits for the first time, and your money to you may seem more and more like its only paper.
